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W Hoops: Fouls hamper Lady Toppers, lift ASU


Sophomore forward Crystal Kelly, who was named to the All-Holiday Classic Team and has been Western Kentucky's leading scorer, fouled out with nine-and-a-half minutes left in the game.

As a result, Kelly was held to just 13 points and two rebounds, down from her averages of 25.4 points and 11 rebounds a game.

The Hilltoppers lost starting junior center Sarah Shouse just 20 seconds later when she picked up her fifth personal foul on the offensive side of the ball.

"It (players fouling out) definitely helped us," senior forward Amy Denson said. "We wanted to go after them and attack them."

Western Kentucky senior guard Tiffany Porter-Talbert also fouled out later in the game. Porter-Talbert was the Lady Toppers' leading scorer with 15 points.

Western Kentucky accumulated 30 fouls over the course of the game that led to 28 points for ASU from the free-throw line.

"Obviously, we wanted to go after their post players, and we did a good job with that," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said.

Devils find balance

The Sun Devils were firing on all cylinders against Western Kentucky, maintaining a balanced attack with five players in double-digits scoring.

Faced with playing back-to-back games over the weekend, the team also spread the wealth of court time, with six players logging 20 minutes or more.

"All in all, it was a gut check," Turner Thorne said. "As hard as we played, I thought our players really stepped up and did what they needed to do, and we just need to keep working on raising our level consistently."

Denson led the team in scoring with 18 points.

No place like home

ASU is glad to be playing the No. 21 New Mexico Lobos at Wells Fargo Arena, where they are still undefeated at 5-0.

"The more we can win at home, the harder it is for people to come in, and they know coming into our house that it's hard to beat us here," Denson said. "We're looking forward to making sure that we take care of our business here at home."

The Sun Devils struggled last year on the road, finishing 7-8 in away games. This year, their road record stands at 2-1, with their only loss coming to No. 8 North Carolina.

"Last year, (the New Mexico game) was on the road, and we were a little bit up and down on the road last year with our effort," junior forward Emily Westerberg said. "But here we've got our home-court pride."

Rewriting the record books

Senior forward Kristen Kovesdy continues to vault her name up ASU's all-time scoring list.

After her 10-point outing against Western Kentucky, Kovesdy increased her point total to 1,047 and passed alumni Olivia Jones for 11th place all time.

Reach the reporter at steven.bohner@asu.edu.


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